


Fairground Attraction

by AlwaysChasing (MoreMarrMoreMoz)



Category: Bastille (Band), Charlie Barnes - Fandom
Genre: Angst and Feels, Big Wheel, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Cute, Cutesy, Fairground, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, He wanted a flamingo, Inspired by Love Simon, Kissing, Light Angst, Love, M/M, One Shot, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Sweet, Twitter relationship, barista charlie, darlie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 16:30:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15441117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoreMarrMoreMoz/pseuds/AlwaysChasing
Summary: Where Dan's in Bastille and Charlie's a fan he's fallen for over Twitter.Big wheels, cuddly ostriches and fluffy cuteness.If you like this and want more one shots let me know your ideas! I especially love cute fluff and find photos of the band really inspiring.





	Fairground Attraction

Dan was more nervous than he was letting on as the big wheel started it's third rotation, and not just because he was more comfortable with both feet on the ground than he was putting his faith in the ricketty old fairground ride. 

“Don't panic, Dan!” Woody yelled encouragingly. “He'll come, I know he will!”

Kyle looked more cynical, but then he always did, and Will - well, Will was bemused by the whole situation. 

Dan was pretty bemused himself, wondering how he'd ended up in this position, waiting to meet a fan who he'd never knowingly laid eyes on in his life. But Charlie wasn’t like the other fans – Dan knew that from his messages. Most of the tweets he received were full of praise, either for the band's music or for how gorgeous his hair was; or, at the other end of the spectrum, making out that Bastille were the worst band in the world and solely responsible for the British music scene's shift away from guitar music. Charlie's comments had initially stood out in Dan's notifications because they were amusing, and he'd begun to recognise the handle because he'd clicked the little heart to 'like' so many of his posts. After that it hadn't taken long for Dan to start checking out the rest of the Charlie's profile, which was dominated by two things – music and coffee, two things he and Dan had a mutual appreciation of. 

After replying to Charlie's comments in the public domain for a few weeks, Dan had bravely slipped into his DMs one night after a few too many drinks. He'd always been the sort who became overly-affectionate when drunk, it was something his band mates teased him about relentlessly, and when Charlie had responded almost immediately, the little flip of excitement in the pit of Dan's stomach confirmed everything he'd suspected – he was developing a crush on a fan. 

He'd kept quiet about it for as long as possible, but within a week the rest of the band had noticed that Dan was lovesick. He was mooning about listening to soppy 80s love songs for one thing, and glued to his phone waiting for Charlie to make contact for another. In the end Kyle had been the one to get it out of Dan by tickling him until he'd handed over his iPhone and admitted there was someone who was taking over his every waking thought.

By this point the pair were messaging each other multiple times a day. At first it had been harmless, sharing memes they knew the other would appreciate and recommending new music to each other in the modern-day version of a mix-tape. Dan couldn't remember when it had shifted, at what point he'd wanted - no, NEEDED – Charlie to be the first person he messaged in the morning and the last person he wished goodnight, but somewhere along the line he had fallen, fully and deeply, for the man at the other end of the phone. 

Dan didn't know for sure that Charlie felt the same way he did, but he had his suspicions. The way Charlie's messages always ended with three lower case 'x's for one thing, and that he'd been the one suggesting meeting up for another. Bastille had a gig in Woody's hometown on Plymouth that day, which also happened to be the very place Charlie worked in a small independent coffee bar. Although he had been petrified, Dan had jumped at the opportunity to spend time with Charlie in the flesh, and for some reason they'd agreed to meet on the Big Wheel.

"Be careful," the band's tour manager Dick had warned. "There are people out there who'll do anything to get a story to sell to the tabloids," but Dan had shaken his head. He might not know Charlie other than online, but somehow he could tell he could trust him. They'd already shared so much with each other - private, personal stuff - that although they were, to all intents and purposes, strangers, they had an undeniable bond.

Dan glanced at his watch as the ride started its fourth rotation and handed the hipster gent manning the ride a small copper token. He had a handful of them, knowing he'd sit on the plastic seat of the big wheel for as long as it took for the man he was falling for to arrive, if he ever did. His eyes scanned the crowds below as the carriage rose higher and higher, the flashing lights of the fairground like a disco beneath him, the people milling around with helium balloons and giant candyflosses getting smaller as he reached the summit. He could see his bandmates moving towards a hotdog stall, and his heart sank. Charlie was fifteen minutes late already, and Will, Kyle and Woody had obviously given up hope of witnessing a romantic meet-cute. Maybe Dan really had got it wrong and the other man wasn't interested after all.

Dan's carriage stopped at the very crest to let out passengers at the bottom who weren't wanting to go around again and Dan clung to the silver safety barrier as he saw someone below who looked very much like Charlie's profile picture. It was hard to tell from this height but there was definitely a diminutive man with dark hair and a beard heading towards the queue for the big wheel.

It was all Dan could do not to call out Charlie's name as the butterflies in his stomach burst into life.

The time it took for the wheel to turn 180 degrees seemed excruciating for Dan, who just wanted to know whether or not he'd been stood up. He craned his neck, desperate to get a better view of the man he'd seen before, but because of how securely he was strapped in and how the line was snaking behind him it was impossible. All he could do was wait.

"Are you going around again?" asked the fairground attendant, holding out his hand for another token.

Dan sighed as he handed over the small copper coin, but then he heard a high pitched call of "Wait!" from behind him.

Dan turned as much as he was able to with the safety restraints and couldn't stop himself from beaming when he saw someone who was most definitely Charlie, dressed in almost identical clothes to Dan, wriggling his way through the queue, much to the annoyance of the people waiting patiently in line.

"I think that's my seat," Charlie added, and the pair caught eyes before Charlie looked coyly at the ground.

Dan handed over another token and the attendant lifted the barrier so Charlie could sit next to Dan on the ride. Dan's heart pounded at the cheeky twinkle in Charlie's eyes as the ride started slowly rotating.

"I didn't think you were going to turn up," Dan admitted, looking at Charlie as he brushed a long stray dark hair out of his eyes. "I thought you'd changed your mind about meeting me."

"What? No!" Charlie replied incredulously, before breaking into an enormous grin and flashing an irresistible dimple in Dan's direction. "I just got held up. I wanted to give you something," he added, before pulling out a toy from behind his back.

A chuckle rose in Dan's throat at the fluffy beige and grey bird Charlie was offering him.

"Thanks," he replied, pulling a puzzled face as he took the stuffed toy. He wasn't quite sure if it was supposed to be an emu or an ostrich.

"I won it for you," Charlie explained shyly, "On one of the grabber machines. I'd been trying to get a flamingo, but you know how hard those machines are, and I knew I was late, so in the end I had to give up and go for whichever one had it's arse in the air so I could pick it up..." he rambled.

Dan placed one solitary finger against the other man's lips in a bid to shut him up. "I love it. Well, I don't, because it's ridiculously ugly, but I love that you won it for me. Thanks, Charlie," he said, swallowing down his emotion. "It's the sweetest thing anyone's done for me in a long, long time."

And then, unthinkingly, as the carriage rocked backwards and forwards over the fairground below, Dan edged closer to the other man until the soft pillows of their lips met in a kiss. It started slow and tender, the bristles of Charlie's beard tickling the skin above Dan's lip, but before long the hunger the two men felt for each other took over. All the waiting was worth it as they melted into each other, their tongues exploring the unfamiliar caverns of each other's mouths.

Dan could hear whooping from below, which he assumed was his bandmates, but at that moment he didn't care. All he cared about was being here, with the man he was falling in love with. He really was on top of the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a couple of things...
> 
> Firstly, Love, Simon (2018) which is a really great film if you've not seen it.
> 
> Secondly, a photo of Dan and Charlie on a fairground ride, which I currently can't find a link to...
> 
> Thirdly, this photo of Charlie winning a soft toy. https://www.instagram.com/p/BloKiITgcAa/?tagged=charliebarnes


End file.
